The Hindu Business Line : ‘Cargo traffic by sea poised for major growth’

Panaji, April 3 With some of the maritime States showing considerable initiative to develop minor ports, the country’s cargo traffic by sea is poised for a major leap forward in the near future, opined Mr Praveen Agarwal, Chairman of Mormugao Port Trust (MPT).

Giving an insight into the emerging port scenario in the country, Mr Agarwal, who also officiates as the Chairman of Kandla port, said that the country today has 700 million tonnes handling capacity, which is estimated to touch 1.5 billion tonnes by 2013 and two billion tonnes by 2020 with demand for cargo traffic by sea increasing every year, besides accommodating bulk cargo carriers.

Mr Agarwal described the 2013 and 2020 targets as “fairly realistic” and gave the credit to some of the maritime States, which have taken initiatives to develop minor ports.

minor ports

Mr Agarwal lauded the initiatives of the States such as Gujarat, which leads the pack with 42 ports, followed by Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Orissa, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh, all of which have set up maritime boards and are in the process of developing minor ports.

Goan ports

Goa, he said, has notified five minor ports already, but felt that it would have to conduct a lot of studies of navigational channel as connectivity to handle cargo was crucial and expressed the MPT’s willingness to share its expertise in joint ventures with the State.

transport system

Incidentally, Goa has a wonderful barge transport system, where apart from cargo, passenger transport could be developed, Mr Agarwal observed.

Infrastructure

Mr Agarwal also spoke of imminent need for the country to create critical infrastructure for container traffic as no port is geared and capable to receive mega vessels of the capacity like 6,500 TEUs, as a result of which, the cost and time constraints in container traffic sector continue to dog the country’s external trade.

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